Mixed Tales
by IYnCloudsgrl7
Summary: Ok, I'm not so good with a summary, this story is about what would happen if Cloud went into FFx's Spira. Read and review if you like 9 chapters long so far
1. The mysterious Soldier

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"Mixed Tales"

Chapter One

The dark sky hung above the building of SHINRA as the president angrily tapped his desk listening to his high general, Heidegger. The fat man in green paced the floor, and nervously described the situation.

"It seems, sir, that there have been recent problems occurring with the troops that were dispatched to the mountains."

"What kind of problems?" 

"Well…the troops were found slaughtered, but there were no traces of an attacker, sir."

"Could it have been Sephiroth?"

"But sir! I said…"

"Be quiet, IDIOT! Sephiroth is not an amateur, he could have easily killed them without anyone noticing!"

"…so what should I do about this?"

"Send more troops…if they receive the same fate, then they will be left behind…"

"Yes sir." He began to walk out, but the President cut him off.

"…and Heidegger, make sure this doesn't leak to the press! I'll have your head if it does."

"Yes sir."

Heidegger angrily stormed to the SOLDIER HQ, pushing everyone out of the way as he did. He sat down in his chair, and made an announcement, "REPORT TO STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!"

The SOLDIERS were aligned at the front in a matter of minutes, and Heidegger stood in the front.

"A selected few will be dispatched to the mountains…refuse, and there WILL be consequences!"

He selected twelve soldiers, and at the head was a soldier named, Zack. Zack led them, knowing what he might be up against, but he showed no signs of fear. Four of the foot soldiers were armed with a sword (including Zack), and the rest carried guns. The heavy winds were no match for them as they climbed the stony mountain. Snow sprinkled down and cooled their heavy faces. After several Hours (They made really good time) they had reached the top of the mountain. Body's lye everywhere. Some were even tampered with, by nature (half-eaten, stiff from the cold, half-decomposed). Two of the Gun Soldiers turned back from shock. The other nine continued, though. It was strange…the place was covered with strange lights, they flew about the air like pixies. 

Zack tried to touch one, but it went straight through his hand. He looked at the others strangely. None of them understood what was going on, neither did he. But as he began his search around the area, a small, yellow cloud came up from behind him, and leapt into his body. One of the Sword bearers ran forward, but the others were too nervous. The man watched as Zack's body began to glow bright. Zack's screaming echoed for a minute, then when it finally stopped, he looked at the lone soldier. He was different. He slowly raised his sword, then sliced at the soldiers arm making a direct hit. 

The soldier looked up from the ground, he was in a lot of pain, but never had he screamed, even with a wounded arm. He then took up his own sword with his free arm, but he couldn't…Zack was his best friend…how could this happen?…What was wrong with him? Zack's fury did not stop though, he attempted another blow at the soldier, but this time, he missed. Behind him, a dark hole was being created in the air, out of nowhere. The lights swarmed out of Zacks body and into the hole. Zack fell unconscious. The wounded soldier neared his friend, and checked him. Zack was still alive, he would be fine. 

Then, he looked at the others, "Bring him back to Midgar, there's a church in the slums, I can trust the girl that lives there, she'll help him. Can't trust the damn Infirmary in that building. But when you return, tell Heidegger that it wasn't Sephiroth…"

"But, where do you think your going, with you wound? We've got orders, and you do too!" said one of the other sword wielders.

"I'm going to find out more. Don't follow me, I don't know what's in this hole."

"Heidegger's not going to like this. What do we tell him about you?"

"Tell him I died…or something, you know what he'll say."

"Fine! But you better come back, you're gonna be moving up rank soon."

"Since when did you care? Now just go before we get even more sentimental!" He looked at the hole, then made his way inside of it.

"C'ya…Cloud."


	2. Welcome to Spira

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Chapter Two

Darkness had surrounded him, his head pounded heavily. Small visions appeared, they were strange, they had had people in them that he knew, but what they were doing, or what was happening to them, he didn't understand. One vision showed the girl from the church. She was praying. Emitted in light, then, it quickly went dark, and he could see nothing else. He felt, then, as if he were going faster. And voices began to cloud his mind. He couldn't take anymore. He struggled, but it was as if he were being flung through the air with nothing physical to cling onto. It was too much, and he passed out.

He awoke in a strange and beautiful flowerbed. His sword lye a few feet next to him, covered in petals. Flowers were unusual to him, not many were in Midgar, and he only really saw them when he was on his missions outside of the city. But aside from the flowers, waterfalls lye behind them, but there was no river, around him were some of the pixie-like lights from before. He picked up his sword and looked for a way out. There were no doors, or paths, it was unusual. 

"Where the hell am I?" He said looking around. He was alone…alone in this strange place. With no place to go, he sat down and began to think. But as he did, something very unusual happened. A vision of a person slowly appeared, it was Zack, behind him, the soldiers were starting to appear, one at a time. "What? Why are they here?" He knew that it wasn't really them, but how did it happen? Why could he see them?

Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder. He spun around with his sword in hand, and there was a strange person there. They were startled by his reaction, but stood their ground. "How did you get in here? What are you doing here?" they asked.

"I don't know, where is 'here'?" asked cloud.

The person looked at him strangely, "You're in the farplane. Are you ok?"

"What's with the wacky hair, new trend?"

"Uh…I'm a guado, and I wouldn't talk, if I were you." he said eyeing Clouds golden spiked hair.

"There's nothing wrong with my hair…um…but you should see a doctor, you've got some nasty scars on your face, and is that a birth defect? And what's a guado?" He pointed to the guado's unusually long hands.

The guado angrily answered, "It was how I was born…"

"I'm sorry…"

"GRR! There's something wrong with you!" 

"You don't have to yell. You've probably been through a lot…poor guy…"

The guado gave up, "Just get out of the farplane before we both get caught."

"What's your name, anyways?" said Cloud beginning his walk next to the guado.

"Call me Yore. I work as a guard for the farplane."

"hmm…what IS the farplane, anyways…Yore?"

"The farplane is where the thoughts of the dead are. Pyreflies reassemble here, and take the form of someone who has died."

"What are pyreflies?"

"See those lights?" He pointed to the pixie-like lights, flying around, "Those are pyreflies."

"wait…they form people who have…died?" Cloud then remembered the visions of Zack and the troops. He stopped, then pulled his large sword quickly Yore's throat, just barely touching. "YOU BETTER BE LYING!"

"I'm not, I wouldn't lye about something like this." He was sweating.

Cloud lowered his sword, "they're…dead? NO! You're LYING!"

"Who?"

Yore looked at cloud with his confused face. "I'd rather not say…but it can't be true! There has to be some kind of mistake!" said cloud. His face was getting a bit pale.

"Um…I don't know what to tell you, only dead people can be seen here, no one has ever been seen here that is alive. It's impossible!"

They reached the entrance, and Yore led Cloud into a new place, it was dark, and covered in roots.

"Where are we?"

"This is Guadosalam…you didn't know?"

"no…I've never heard of this place…"

"Hmm…The farplane must've done something to you. But anyways, You're on your own from here, I've got to stay here."

Cloud looked around, everybody there looked a lot like Yore. 

"…now what?"


	3. Releasing the stress

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Chapter three

"FIENDS!" A woman was screaming as she ran towards the main household, "PLEASE! LORD SEYMOUR, HELP!"

Interested and still upset, Cloud walked down the path, and looked to see what was going on. A tall man walked out of the large house, he had long blue hair, and was really ugly. Cloud then watched as strange creatures began to pour out of the entrance to the town. 

Seymour pulled out his staff, but before he did anything, Cloud jumped down, and began to slice away at the fiends. Every so often he would put in a special attack for the harder fiends, but they were all pretty easy. Seymour became intrigued with Cloud. Yore, stood at his post and watched in pure amazement as Cloud thrashed his way through. The screams of fiends and the slicing of flesh was all that could be heard. 

When things quieted down, and the fiends lessened until they stopped, Cloud sheathed his sword, and wiped the sweat from his face. Then he smiled, "I feel better!"

The guado looked at him, some retreated to their homes, while others were interested. "Who are you stranger?" asked Seymour walking up to cloud.

"I'm Cloud, I take it you're Seymour?" he asked.

"I am. I'm one of the four maesters of yevon, but surely you knew this already."

"…uh…" he looked at the guado, who were anxious to hear his answer, "…yeah."

"Come…We'll dine at my home. A warrior such as yourself deserves such an honor."

Cloud thought of calling Seymour a 'freak' then taking off, but he wanted to see if this man could somehow lead him to his answers. So, he followed him into the building. He could hear whispers behind him from the curious Guado. The inside of the house was dark, and gave Cloud an eerie feeling. But he continued on. Seymour signaled another guado to lead Cloud into a room to await the dinner. 

While in the room, Cloud began to think about why he was there. Should he really have gone through that hole? What would that accomplish? But he was still concerned about what Yore had told him. How could Zack and the others be dead? He had just seen them not long ago. 

But as he thought, the ground began to shake violently, he was thrown off of the bed where he sat. Pots and books fell from their shelves, crashing to the floor. He got up, maybe he shouldn't be here. The ground shook even more, he had trouble, but still managed to make his way out the door. The town was falling apart, Guado screamed, and began to escape the town. Cloud didn't follow, instead, he went to another exit. But it was horrifying there. Thunder crashed all around him. Rain poured onto his golden hair, and dripped down his huge sword.

He didn't know where he was going, but at that time, he didn't care. What was making the ground shake like that? As he ran, the lightning crashed next to him, barely missing. The occasional fiend would attempt to halt him, but they were sliced in half. He stopped in what was the only building there. Soaked to the bone, a woman came up to him and began to speak strangely. Though he didn't understand, he knew she meant no harm, and he followed her to the back room. He was allowed to stay there, with a small fee of gil. Which was of no loss to him, considering he had plenty. He set his sword next to the door, then lye in the bed. As he stared up at the ceiling, he drifted into a silent slumber. 

"…kill them…" 

Screams and the firing of guns rang through his head…then…it was silent.

Cloud awoke, he felt strange. He could still hear the roar of the thunder outside though.

"When will it stop?" he mumbled to himself. Then he got up, and retrieved his sword. Then left the building. The rain was still as hard as it was the night before, but he didn't stop. His determination led him straight through, and into a beautiful forest. 

(I'm gonna start naming the chapters)


	4. Waltz through Macalania forest

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Chapter Four: 

Waltz through the forest of dreams (I luv macalania forest)

The sparkles of the forest glittered around him. He felt the tickle of ice on his cheeks as they sprinkled from the trees. It was quiet. He had never seen such a place before. His sword stay sheathed on his back. He wiped the water from his face, and strained drops out of his hair. He could hear his footsteps echo throughout the forest. 

It was eerie, but calm. The ground below him became the roots supported by their own strength, and lifted up into the air, intertwining with itself. This forest reminded him of the place the girl had talked about. The place she talked about which she had seen in her dreams. He knew that he would tell her on his return. 

A blue butterfly grazed his hair as it fluttered by. With that small distraction, he turned back to the road, and a strange creature stood there. He appeared to be a bird-like man holding a harp. 

"You are a stranger to this world, what you search for will come, but you must seek it wisely." he said gently stroking his harp.

"What do you mean?" asked cloud.

But the man merely stroked his harp more, then disappeared into a group of butterflies, and fluttered away. 

"…" He Ignored the unusual visit, then continued on his way. 

He couldn't tell what time of day it was through the dense treetops. But he didn't really care, what bothered him was where he actually was. He seemed to be getting nowhere. 

**********

Back at the SHINRA building, the president grew angry. Hedeigger walked in. 

"Have you done it?" asked the president, turning around in his chair.

"Yes sir. They have been executed."

"And the ancient?"

"We have not found her. I've sent the Turks to the slum church, but she wasn't there."

"FIND HER!"

"Sir…what about the foot soldier, one of my more loyal troops that was dispatched with the others told me he entered the hole."

"Forget him! Find the ancient!"

"Yes sir." The fat man said, then ran out of the room.

The president turned back around and looked out the window, "And what of you, Sephiroth? I will find you…"

Up at the top of the mountain where the hole was, it was quiet. But A young girl soon made her way up to it. Her long brown hair and pink dress swayed behind her.

"I know you're here Cloud." she said struggling to the top. "How could you leave Zack and the others to die like that?…no! It wasn't your fault! But I must find you!" She made her way up, and saw the hole. The pyre flies still flew about the body's on the ground. The horrifying sight caused her to turn away for a minute, but she still pressed on. She stepped over the corpses and looked at the hole. But as she studied it, a swarm of pyre flies flew inside of her. She gained a warm and gentle feeling, it pulled her into the hole, and for her, everything went dark.

**********

Cloud had finally reached the edge of the forest, the sun burned his eyes for a moment, then welcomed him to an open area, very large. Chocobos ran in herds across the vast valley. He gazed at the scenery that swept past the cliffs, into mountains. Then pressed onward. 


	5. A new turn

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Chapter Five:

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A New Turn

Clouds path sloped downward and led him deeper to the great land. In the distance, he could see a small area which held a few people in it. He wasn't too interested, the only people he had met so far were too strange for him to understand. So instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a purple materia. It's glow brightened, and sparkled in his hand. He looked around and waited for a moment. It wasn't too long, and a chocobo had come. It seemed mesmerized by the jewel. 

Cloud grinned a little, then hopped up onto it's feathery back. It immediately thrust itself forward, at first, trying to force the mounted off, but with little effect, so it just did as commanded. The wind swept through Clouds hair, he felt more relaxed than he had ever felt while at Midgar. Every so often he would pass a stray fiend or two, but without the need for combat.

Before he reached what seemed to be half way though the field, another chocobo came into his path, but a woman was mounted on it.

"Have you paid for that chocobo?" she snapped.

Cloud merely grinned, "What do you mean? I caught it, so why should I pay?"

"Catching a chocobo without paying is a crime!"

"Since when?" Cloud snapped back after losing his grin.

"Since always, I'm afraid you're going to have to get off." She unmounted her chocobo, then carefully walked up to him. He looked down at her, then regained his grin once again.

"Bye!" Without a second thought, he raced on, leaving her in the dust. It had been a long time since he had had such fun. It even seemed alien to him. The whistling of the racing bird rang happily through the air. 

The woman was angrily following them, they raced for a while. When he finally lost her, he found himself in a strange cove. The tired chocobo was now at a steady walking pace. Cloud looked around the area with a more serious expression. He noticed a girl standing by the entrance to what looked like a cave. He then unmounted the bird, and let it free. 

The girl noticed him coming. Her wacky blonde hair bounced on top of her head, as she ran towards him. "HEY!" she shouted. She wore green shorts and a red shirt, she was so cheerful that it was almost creepy. When she had finally reached him, she dropped down to her ankles to catch her breath. "You…look like…a…fighter." she managed to say.

"…"

"Could ya give me a hand?"

"I don't even know you."

She looked up, and smiled after she could breath, then said, "Oh! I'm sorry, my name's Rikku. What's yours by the way?"

"…Cloud."

"Well, Cloud, can you help me or not?"

"With what?"

"My friends went inside, and I tried going in after them, but I can't find them anywhere!"

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Help me find them of coarse!" Before Cloud could refuse, she grabbed his arm and pulled him with her inside the cave.

"Why can't you do this yourself?" He asked pulling his arm free. "You afraid of the dark or something?"

Rikku stopped and faced him, "NO! I just need a little help is all." She then continued on ahead, and with really nothing else to do, Cloud followed.


	6. Misled friendship

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Chapter six

Misled Friendship

Deeper they roamed into the darkened cave. Pyreflies and purple smoke crept from the eerie walls. Rikku began to get shivers, but Cloud was perfectly fine. He had seen worse. She clung onto his arm like a frightened rabbit, as they made their way through. The shadows soon began to thicken. And she only squeezed harder.

"Will you let go!" Cloud snapped. "You're the one who dragged me in here!"

Rikku slowly let go, "meaney!" she said under her breath. 

They eventually came across a dead end. The only thing there was a strange device on the ground. 

"So…do we go back?" said Cloud.

"NO! It's a teleporter. It can lead us anywhere." said Rikku starting to gain confidence and stepping up to the device.

"Does it even work?" said Cloud eyeing it.

"hmm…looks like it might need power." Rikku said tinkering with it.

"Are you an idiot? If it needs power then that means your friends couldn't have used it."

"But it could have ran out of power after they used it!" said Rikku sticking her tongue out at him.

Then she continued to tinker with it. Cloud ignored her gesture, and started to look around. Every corner looked the same, except one. It was blocked by a few stones, but it still seemed wide enough to fit a few people through. So, he unsheathed his Sword, then sliced away at the stones like butter.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Said Rikku from the transporter.

But Cloud didn't answer, he just continued to work until it revealed a passage. 

"You can stay here and tinker with your toy all you want, but I'm going in!" he said sheathing his sword. Then he headed in. Rikku stared for a moment, then looked down at the transporter, then back up at the passage. Then she got up and ran after him.

"You better be right!" she said.

The path was a lot narrower than before. And it only became darker. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" said Rikku behind Cloud.

"…" 

"HEY! Could you answer me?! You're creeping me…"

Cloud stopped.

"What? What is it?" she said.

"This was a mistake…" He looked back past Rikku, "RUN!" Then he sprinted forward deeper into the path clutching Rikku's arm.

"WHY ARE WE RUNNING?!" yelled Rikku, nearly stumbling.

"…" Behind Rikku, the roof of the cavern was collapsing, and falling faster, and closer.

Rikku managed to see behind her, and her eyes bulged at the sight of the cave-in. "AHHH!" She ran nearly next to Cloud, but it was still too narrow to pass him. They continued to sprint forward as fast as their legs would carry them, until finally, they could see some light. But it was a cliff! And they had run straight off of it. Everything went dark.

Visions of the girl from the church rang through Clouds mind. He kept seeing her, she sat on her knees, praying. It was exactly what he had seen at the farplane. But now, a little more was shone. The vision would skip to a falling pearl, and visions of water would cloud the rest. But what did it mean?

He awoke in a strange place. It was nothing but ruins. Rikku was nowhere in sight. The starry sky lit up the destroyed buildings, and gave it a more calm feeling to the place. But he still didn't know where he was. He looked around, and no one was there. It was quiet, again. He pulled out a spare potion, and drank it, he could feel his strength returning. He got up, and pulled his sword from the water nearby. 

"How did I survive that fall?" he asked himself, then continued his exploration of this new, unknown world.


	7. The Broken Spirit

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Chapter Seven:

The Broken Spirit

A ribbon of violet clouds swept across the trim of the sky. It sparkled like a sea of pyrflies. Cloud walked a broken path of crushed cement towards the clutter of destroyed buildings. It was as if this place had been swallowed by the sea, then spat back up. But with the silence, came doubts. Cloud could feel something coming. The feeling crept and burned inside of him. He skimmed around him, but there was nothing. Once again soaked, he made his way through the area. 

He found a building of rubble where he would rest to regain his strength. Not much was inside. He sat on a fallen pillar, and studied the room carefully. Then he reached into his pocket. Digging through it was like reaching in bag of thorny leaches. Then he felt something. It was small, and hard…His PHS! How could he have forgotten it! He thrust it in front of his face, but frowned. It had been destroyed by the fall, and was covered in water. So, he threw it ahead of him onto the cold ground.

The clatter of it landing rang and echoed. Then, it was quiet again. Doubt crossed his mind again, but that was quickly flooded out by the memory of her. He remembered what he had seen at the farplane. Why was she praying, she seemed so full of sorrow, when usually, she's full of joy. He needed to know this, he needed his question answered. But, tomorrow would probably be better. So, he took the sword from his back, and set it next to him, then he rest his head, and slept.

**********

Back at the church in the slums, Reno, of the turks combed the front, while the soldiers swept the back.

"Did you find her?" he said holding his eyes on the flowers growing in light.

"Uh…no sir. I don't think she's here." Said one of the soldiers trampling straight through them. Reno looked up at the man. His eyes were cold, and pierced the soldiers angrily. The soldier could tell he had done something wrong. He looked down, at the crushed petals below his feet, then gulped.

Reno swiftly pulled out his gun, and shot the man without a second thought. The soldier lye dead, and Reno signaled the others to pull his carcass out of the building. They carefully picked up the body, and without damaging any more flowers, carried him out. 

Reno awaited them outside of the door. When they came out, he looked at each one of their pale faces.

"Hedeigger wants us to check out the mountain if she wasn't here."

"But…uh…sir, why would she be there? How could she have know about the operation? It was top secret."

"Dumbass, don't you remember we found Zack taking refuge here. They could've told her about it before we got to him. Idiot, if it weren't for him, we could've had her already!" Reno angrily looked at the piles of junk that made up the walls of Midgar, and flicked the trigger of his gun. Then headed out. The soldiers, shortly behind.

**********

"DAMNIT TIFA! MOVE YOUR SLOW ASS!" a grunt voice said in a bar.

Tifa, the bartender, shook a glass of cold beer, then slid it down the counter into the hand of it's drinker. Then she set the nozzle back, and gazed into the wooden counter.

"You think he's ever coming back?" she asked to the man.

He chugged down the glass, then slammed it down onto the table, "…who?"

"You know…Cloud."

"…HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW?!" 

Tifa looked up at him, sighed, then walked out of the bar.

"Now look what you did, Barret." Said a girl from one of the tables.

"SHUT UP, JESSY!" Barret slammed his gun arm onto the counter, then got up. "DAMNIT CLOUD! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO GO AND GET YOUR SPIKY ASS LOST?!" Once again, he slammed his arm on the table, then stormed out. 


	8. Memories on the mountain

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Chapter Eight:

Memories on the Mountain (Can get a little graphic in this chapter)

In Zanarkand, Cloud awoke from a nightmare. This time, Sephiroth was in it. He was grinning, and his sword, his blade, it was covered in blood. Cloud gazed at the blade of his own sword, then sheathed it, and got up. It was still as cold as it had been in that room. 

The violet ribbon had been erased by the morning sun, and he could only see miles of rubble and destruction. His boots clattered and splattered through the damp grounds as he made his way through the land of lost souls. He eventually reached a place of great silence. Even the water seemed hushed. 

But the silence was broken, from the waters, came a large dragon. It spread it's wings and twisted it's long, scaly tail. Then, it let loose a roar that shook the earth. Cloud pulled out his sword, and stared into the face of the beast. His eyes were burning fire, and followed the dragons every move. The ground shook violently as the dragons tail attempted to crush Clouds skull. Though Cloud dodged, and swung back at the tail, slicing the top scales a little. The dragon turned to him, and let out it's horrible burning breath. Quickly, he used some fallen rubble for a barrier, then pulled out a red glowing crystal. 

The crystal brightened, and the dark sky began to rumble. From the clouds, a red dragon flew down. It's magnificent wings were much larger than those of the fiend he had encountered. The two dragons clashed in the sky, each firing beams or clouds of fire. Teeth and claws shredded each others scales. Cloud watched, he knew that the fiend would be finished, and soon enough, dust quickly covered the ground, and the fiend had been brought down, the red dragon, which had been summoned by Cloud, held the carcass down, and tore out it's throat. Then took one glance at it's master, and flew back into the sky. Cloud watched it disappear, then continued on his way.

He had finally found a path, which led up a mountain, it looked to be cold, and harsh, but he was ready. He made his way up the path, when he reached the entrance to a cave, he had a nice view of the dead city he had abandoned. It was larger than he imagined. Very peaceful, it gave a warm feeling, almost. But, he turned away, then headed inside. It was peaceful, and quiet. Very unusual. But Cloud was tired of silence, he wanted to hear the voices of people again, it was enough to drive him insane. He traveled for several hours, every once in a while, coming across a dead end. But eventually, he found the exit. When he emerged, he hadn't realized he had been in there for the entire day, for the sun was already beginning to set. He looked ahead of him for the small hope of civilization, but the path only led to snow. His only relief was that he had not gone in a circle. 

Another place of silence…it was eerie, and he didn't like it. He hugged himself for warmth, and stopped to pick at the small amount of food he had on him. His newest stop would be his last for the night. He had managed to start a fire, and set up a small camp. The moon was in the sky at the time. He sighed from boredom, and decided to entertain himself by whistling a tune he had learned from Tifa. He remembered the time she taught it to him also, they were at the bar that night. Tifa was celebrating his return from his first SOLDIER mission. He was 19 years old. To be in that bar again, that dirty old tavern where the floor creaks, is what Cloud wanted at the moment. Even with Barret up his ass, telling him to not get his 'spiky ass' hurt, he actually missed it. And Tifa with her brunette hair swinging behind her as she pranced about the room cheerily, Marlene dancing around her feet. With Biggs, Wedge and Jessie all singing terribly after getting drunk.

For the moment, Cloud was smiling. He stopped whistling, and stared at the fire. Then closed his eyes. But before he reached his dreams, a slight crunching of snow caught his attention. He looked up, and someone was there. 

****


	9. Monkey on the mountain

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Chapter Nine:

Monkey on the Mountain

To Clouds surprise the approaching figure was nothing more than a squatter monkey which had followed him from the ruins. It was using his old footsteps to gain more ground quicker, but every so often it'd trip into the snow bank and become sprinkled with a light shower of ice crystals. When it was only a couple of feet from Cloud, it stopped and stared into his eyes. It itself had huge black eyes that shone, even in the dark. Cloud, however, was hungry, and this monkey would taste a lot better than any of the crap he had stored away in his pouch. So an idea had crossed into his mind. He slowly reached into the pouch and pulled out a slice of bread, the last in fact, then thrust the stale thing towards the little fuzz ball as an offering.

Hesitant at first, the monkey slowly edged its way towards the food until it was close enough to snatch the morsel from his hand. Without even glancing at it, the monkey began to shove pieces into it's mouth. Cloud continued to stare, not wanting to alarm the satisfied creature that at that moment he was slowly sneaking one of his hands behind his back for the dagger he had stored behind his buster sword. As he neared the leathery brown handle, he hesitated, for a moment the monkey almost looked…cute! He slightly shook his head, what was he thinking? He would starve! So he continued, and had wrapped his fingers around the handle and slowly began to drag it out. 

When the blade had fully been pulled from it's sheath, Cloud hesitated once more. The monkey was just finishing up the last few crumbs, then looked up at him with it's large pleading eyes expecting more. Without realizing it, Cloud had actually resheathed his dagger and his hands lye in his lap disappointed at the loss of their meal. Without smiling or anything Cloud turned from its eyes, then stared into the flames of the fire. A small thump of his lap made him jump a little, but it was just the monkey making itself known, and cuddling up. He looked down at it, and it looked up at him, saying please with its eyes.

"Look, you've cleaned me out…" he snapped, then he mumbled under his cold breath, "…now we'll both starve." The monkey hadn't moved it's eyes in the least. "GET!" shouted cloud shifting his body to scare the monkey out of his lap. It had jumped out, but while on the ground, it turned back to him and scurried back into the warmth of his lap. Giving up, cloud concentrated back onto the flames. It was quiet that night. But the silence was broken by a small chirping noise which had come from the monkey below him. He looked down upon it, and realized it was sleeping. "_What a strange creature…_" he thought, beginning to stroke its furry back for the first time. It seemed to purr a little at this, but hadn't stirred from its sleep. Cloud continued to gently stroke it, but looked back at the fire. He dare not sleep on this fiend-infested mountain. But he actually didn't mind, he was use to little sleep, after being trained in SOLDIER, so for the full night, his head hadn't bobbed once. 

The sun had finally began to make itself known, showering the two with it's morning rays of warmth. The monkey awoken and had jumped from his lap and onto his shoulder. Then it began to look around as if scoping out the area. Small chirps came from it evenly timed with the next. Cloud watched it from the corner of his eye, then stood up. The fire had died during the night, and all that remained was a small pile of smoking sticks. Without any trouble, the monkey had scurried over to clouds other shoulder and began to scope out the area once more. Annoyed, Cloud snatched it by its tail and peeled it off of its post, which it had dug its small claws into after being snatched. It was thrust out in front of his face and he stared at it. It had those same pleading eyes from the night before. Cloud gave a small scowl, then dropped it.

There was a muffled plop of it falling into the bank as it landed next to him. He ignored its little feet violently kicking to pull itself free, then began to journey once more. But soon enough the monkey had buried its way free, and was up on his shoulder again. 

"Maybe I should've roasted you." Cloud said giving it a cold stare. The monkey ignored him, and chirped. It seemed pretty happy, and it also looked as if they were reaching the bottom of the mountain. When the snow began to clear up, it was already warm from the sun. But something was wrong, Cloud came to a halt, as he looked ahead and saw that he was back…back at the calm lands.


End file.
